23rd March 2020 should have been a day of celebration for the Young City Poets project. Instead, it went into the history books for a different reason.
At the National Literacy Trust we are on a mission to get children writing poetry. We work with brilliant teachers and poets across the country to demystify the writing process and encourage children and young people to express their thoughts, creativity and experiences through poetry.
Crucially, we always celebrate the children’s poems.
In previous years we have loved hosting performance events for our young poets and their parents at the end of each project. One memorable afternoon in Bradford in 2018 we heard poems that covered everything from outer space (“yet another standard spiral galaxy”) to a dog named Spike, and a broad range of experiences from panic attacks to ballet dancing “Carve each chord into the air”. Nothing could have demonstrated more clearly that poetry is for everyone and everyone has a poem to share.
In particular, the poem We Live in a Modern World written and performed by pupils at Dixons Cottingley Academy sparked that special tingly feeling for everyone in the audience that is only possible from live performance.
But there’s more to performance than just a ‘feelgood’ moment. Through our project evaluations we have consistently seen that the opportunity to publish children’s poems in an anthology or to perform at a live event improves their confidence and motivation to write, and helps them to feel more proud of their work. With children’s enjoyment of writing at the lowest level for a decade, opportunities to share and celebrate writing can no longer be viewed as a ‘nice to have’.
Over the last year we have continued to deliver our poetry programme, working with 77 schools and 22 poets across the country. Along with the whole world, we were faced with choices about which elements of the programme could be delivered digitally. From the beginning we knew that we would celebrate the poetry of our participants. We are about to begin the very serious business of hosting virtual celebration events for schools in Birmingham, Bradford, London and Nottingham and supporting them to perform for parents in the playground where possible. Children and young people’s performances will be MC’ed, and in some cases serenaded, by some of the stonking poets who have inspired their writing: Laila Sumpton, Antosh Wojcik, Paul Cree, Lexia Tomlinson, Simon Mole and Gecko. And the best bit is that all this fun will have an impact on pupils’ literacy outcomes.
We can’t wait!
We live in a modern world
There’s encouragement of expression and freedom
“Express yourself!”
“The right of free speech!”
What an achievement!
Yet
We’re told to – hold ourselves back
We’re told to – act like we’re old
We’re told to – wear uniforms
We’re told to – do what we’re told
We live in a modern world.
Yet
Our society is set back
Every message we send
On-line makes us feel connected
But each friend we add
Loses our friendship with reality.
We live in a modern world
There’s encouragement of expression and freedom
But
“You won’t be loved looking like that”
“How many names can we call her today?”
Failed by our society
We live in a modern world.
Open your eyes to the world around you
Don’t look through a screen
Look with your eyes
See the people talked about daily
See they’re not just a headline
They’re lives
Being lived
People that are real
We live in a modern world
Some have no voice and no freedom
A story briefly flashed across a screen
Condolences and prayers mean nothing
If not backed up by actions
Empty words
Help no one.
We live in a modern world.
Pupils at Dixons Cottingley Academy
Fay Lant
Fay Lant is Head of Schools Programmes at the National Literacy Trust and was previously a secondary English teacher.
Children's Poetry Summit 
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